Tube storage rack

ABSTRACT

A storage rack for culture tubes or similar tubular articles is vacuum-formed from a plastic material, such as polypropylene and comprises two separably connected elements, one being a boxlike member with upstanding peripheral walls and a floor having a plurality of wells in which to receive the lower end of culture tubes or such articles and restrain them against lateral displacement and which also are provided with bottom drain openings for discharge of condensation. The other separably connected element which is in the form of a cover, or toppiece, separably attachable to the upper margin of the upstanding peripheral walls, has vertical, tube-receiving apertures with depending guide sleeves which are coaxial with the wells and which aid in initial placement of such tubes or articles in the rack.

United States Patent Mander et al.

[ 1 Feb. 22, 1972 [54] TUBE STORAGE RACK [72] Inventors: Robert J.Mander, Mays Landing; Duane E. Ramm; Robert J. Simms, both of Vine- [21]Appl. No.: 45,725

[52] US. Cl ..211/74, 206/65, 220/21, 220/97 [51] Int, Cl..;.....A47b73/00 [58] Field of Search ..211/72, 74, 73;248/152; 220/97F, 21; 206/65 A, 72; 217/265 [56] References Cited UN [TED STATESPATENTS 3,184,071 5/1965 Delaire ..220/21 X 3,272,378 9/1966 Weber..220/21 1,188,146 6/1916 Bogley.... ..211/74X 2,023,783 12/1935Edgerton .....217/26.5 3,265,281 8/1966 l-lohnjec ..217/26.5 3,460,7118/1969 Al-Roy .....220/97 F X 2,995,269 8/ 1961 Pease ..220/97 F XWeikert ..220/97 F 3,383,009 5/1968 3,113,689 12/1963 Moussong ..206/65A X FOREIGN PATENTS OR APPLICATIONS 1,351,218 3/1963 France ..211/74Primary Examiner-Edward C. Allen Assistant Examiner-Abraham FrankelAtt0rney-E. J. Holler and Richard B. Dence [57] ABSTRACT connectedelement which is in the form of a cover, or toppiece, separablyattachable to the upper margin of the upstanding pen'pheral walls, hasvertical, tube-receiving apertures with depending guide sleeves whichare coaxial with the wells and which aid in initial placement of suchtubes or articles in the rack.

2 Claims, 3 Drawing Figures PATENTEnmzz I912 I 3,643,812

sum 1 OF 2 INVENTO r M Q. MA

BY QPERT QfSINH'hS v K rma 8 TUBE STORAGE RACK An important objective ofthe present invention is the provision of tube storage racks which areconstructed and formed in such manner that they may economically bediscarded or disposed of after only a single use.

Another objective of the invention is the provision of tube storageracks formed from an inexpensive plastic material, which, along withtubes supported therein, may be safely autoclaved or sterilized, ifrequired, without damaging affect or deformation of the racks.

It is also an object of this invention to provide a disposable tubestorage rack of the foregoing type which is capable of accommodating arelatively wide range of tube sizes, both as to diameter and length.

A no less important objective of the present invention is to provide aplastic tube storage rack which is capable of supporting an array oftubes, such as culture tubes, in upright position therein and, by meansof having a floor portion formed with a multiplicity of wells designedto accommodate the bottom end of the tubes, to restrain the tubesagainst undesirable lateral bodily displacement.

The specific nature of the present invention, as well as other objects,advantages and features thereof, will become readily apparent to thoseskilled in the art from the following detailed description taken inconjunction with the annexed sheets of drawings on which, by way ofexample only, the preferred embodiments of the invention areillustrated, and wherein:

F IG. 1 is a perspective view of the tube rack with a substantialportion of the cover element fragmentarily removed to more clearlydepict the cooperative arrangement of the bottom wells and thetube-accommodating apertures in the cover element, or toppiece; and

FIG. 2 is a partial top plan view of the rack with the cover element ortop piece removed and showing only a few of the tube accommodatingwells; and

FIG. 3 is an enlarged fragmentary, sectionalized elevational viewparticularly showing the cooperative coaxial alignment of the bottomwells and apertures in the cover element, as well as in which the coverelement and boxlike member are firmly yet separably interconnected insnug snap-fit relationship.

As best illustrated in FIG. 1, the present invention generally comprisestwo elements, viz: a generally rectangular boxlike member and anapertured cover, or toppiece 11, which is dimensioned to substantiallyenclose the top of member 10 and to be separably, yet firmly secured tosame.

The boxlike member 10 comprises a floor 12 and upstanding, integral,side and end walls 13 and 14 respectively, the latter, preferablytapering outwardly and upwardly (FIG. 3) and terminating in a continuousexternal horizontal flange l5. Spaced slightly below the flange 15 thereis a hollow rib l6 projecting laterally outward from walls 13 and 14 andrunning substantially parallel with the flange 15, thus providing acontinuous downwardly and inwardly facing shoulder 17, or abutment,intended for separable holding engagement with a portion of the coverelement 11, as will be explained presently. At intervals along the sideand end walls 13 and 14, respectively, external recesses R, orindentations, are provided which create convenient handles 18 whichfacilitate manual transport of the rack. The floor 12 of the boxlikemember 10 is provided with a multiplicity of symmetrically arrangedwells 19 which are individually designed to accommodate the closedbottom end of a tube T, such as a culture tube or other like article.Each such well 19 defines a noncircular peripheral configuration in topplan and preferably, though not necessarily defines a squareconfiguration at the merger thereof with the floor 12. The sidewalls 20of each well taper downwardly and inwardly and converge into a bottom 21of relatively small area wherein a drain opening 22 is formed to providea means for draining or discharging condensate formed, during autoclavecooling, on the interior rack surfaces. Since, as contrasted with thecircular periphery of the tubes T, the walls 20 are noncircular incontour, it is evident that the tubes T cannot form a continuous band ofperipheral contact with the walls 20 and thus cannot act as a valve andseal the wells, but

rather leave adequate clearance for passage and drainage of thecondensate.

The interchangeable cover element, or toppiece 11, is a generally flatrectangular sheet of plastic material formed with an upstanding,continuous, peripheral wall 23 of such external dimensions that it fitssnugly within the upper region of the walls of the boxlike bottom 10. Ahollow external rib 24 situated substantially at the juncture of thecover 11 and the wall 23 is shaped to nest in snap-fit engagement withthe hollow rib l6 and shoulder 17 portions of walls 13 and 14 of theboxlike member 10 and thus securely, yet separably interconnect thetop-piece 11 and boxlike member in assembled relationship. At the upperend of the wall 23 is a continuous outwardly extending horizontal flange25 which seats upon the flange 15 extending continuously along the uppermargin of the side and end walls 13 and 14 respectively. The extremeouter margin of the flange 25 is turned downwardly and thence outwardlyto present a generally rounded surface for hand contact. This coverelement 11, or toppiece, is provided with a plurality of verticalapertures 27, or openings, which correspond in number to and arecoaxially oriented with the aforementioned wells 19. Each such aperture27, or opening, is formed in a floor 28 at the bottom of a dependingtube guide-sleeve 29 which is formed integrally with the cover element.It is evident that glass culture tubes T, or other like articlespositioned in the aligned apertures 27 and well 19, will be positivelysupported in an axially upright position facilitating transportation ormovement of the rack and tubes as a unit from place to place quitesafely and without tube dislocation. Moreover, both the apertures 27 andwells 19 are, within reasonable limits, dimensioned to accommodate tubesof varying diameter.

Preferably, the rack is vacuum-formed from polypropylene so that it willwithstand steam and heat during autoclaving without damaging formation.Obviously, other materials may be employed, particularly if autoclavingis not necessary.

We claim:

1. A rack for storage of an array of axially elongated articles inupstanding relationship comprising:

a horizontally disposed wall,

a sidewall extending vertically from and continuously marginallyencompassing said horizontally disposed wall and defining a boxlikestorage compartment therewithin for said articles, said sidewall beingprovided with a rim portion in outwardly spaced relationship with saidhorizontally disposed wall and extending around said storagecompartment,

said horizontally disposed wall forming the floor of said storagecompartment and defining an array of mutually interspaced pocketsrecessed within and extending beneath said floor,

each of said pockets being noncircular in top contour and havingsidewalls tapering downwardly and inwardly and converging with a bottomend portion defining a centrally located transverse drain opening, saidsidewall also providing a discontinuous peripheral seat upon which togravitationally rest a lower end portion of each of said articles inelevated relationship above each said drain opening and across which toaccommodate continuous drainage flow between said storage compartmentand each said drain opening,

a cover spanning said storage compartment having a marginal edge portionextending around and engaging said rim portion if said sidewall insnap-fit removable relationship, said cover being provided with an arrayof mutually interspaced transverse circular openings vertically orientedin axial alignment with said pockets and in which to accommodate andsupport said articles in upright posi tion within said pockets.

2. A rack as defined in claim 1, wherein each of said pockets isprovided with a generally rectangular top contour and wherein sidewallsof each of said pockets define a generally rectangular seat upon whichto gravitationally rest a lower end portion of each of said articles.

1. A rack for storage of an array of axially elongated articles inupstanding relationship comprising: a horizontally disposed wall, asidewall extending vertically from and continuously marginallyencompassing said horizontally disposed wall and defining a boxlikestorage compartment therewithin for said articles, said sidewall beingprovided with a rim portion in outwardly spaced relationship with saidhorizontally disposed wall and extending around said storagecompartment, said horizontally disposed wall forming the floor of saidstorage compartment and defining an array of mutually interspacedpockets recessed within and extending beneath said floor, each of saidpockets being noncircular in top contour and having sidewalls taperingdownwardly and inwardly and converging with a bottom end portiondefining a centrally located transverse drain opening, said sidewallalso providing a discontinuous peripheral seat upon which togravitationally rest a lower end portion of each of said articles inelevated relationship above each said drain opening and across which toaccommodate continuous drainage flow between said storage compartmentand each said drain opening, a cover spanning said storage compartmenthaving a marginal edge portion extending around and engaging said rimportion if said sidewall in snap-fit removable relationship, said coverbeing provided with an array of mutually interspaced transverse circularopenings vertically oriented in axial alignment with said pockets and inwhich to accommodate and support said articles in upright positionwithin said pockets.
 2. A rack as defined in claim 1, wherein each ofsaid pockets is provided with a generally rectangular top contour andwherein sidewalls of each of said pockets define a generally rectangularseat upon which to gravitationally rest a lower end portion of each ofsaid articles.